Atheist and best-selling author Richard Dawkins will debate his Oxford University colleague on October 3rd at UAB's Alys Stephens Center in Birmingham, AL.

"The God Delusion" Debate

7:00 pm

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

The Alys Stephens Center

Birmingham, Alabama

Remaining true to our goal of engaging secular culture on critical issues in a thoughtful, respectful manner, Fixed Point Foundation will sponsor a debate on what is arguably the most critical question of our time: the existence of God. The decision one makes regarding this question has implications that reverberate throughout eternity to be sure, but it also affects temporal existence from government policy to the individual. Historically, man’s belief in the transcendent has served as a restraint on his conduct and provided hope for his future. Now, it is argued, “God is dead”, and man can do very well without him.

The debate will feature Professor Richard Dawkins, Fellow of the Royal Society and Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University and Dr. John Lennox (MA, MA, Ph.D., D.Phil., D.Sc.), Reader in Mathematics and Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science, Green College, University of Oxford.

Dawkins, voted by Europe’s Prospect Magazineas one of the world’s most important intellectuals, is regarded by many as the spokesman for the “New Atheism.” BBC has labeled him “Darwin’s Rottweiler.” He has written numerous best-sellers, most notable among them, his recent book, The God Delusion. TGD has been onThe New York Times List of Best-Sellersfor over thirty weeks. It is a no-holds-barred assault on religious faith generally, and Christianity specifically. According to Dawkins, one can deduce atheism from scientific study; indeed, he argues that it is the only viable choice.

Lennox, a popular Christian apologist and scientist, travels widely speaking on the interface between science and religion. Like Dawkins, he has dedicated his career to science, but he has arrived at very different conclusions. "It is the very nature of science that leads me to belief in God," he says. Lennox possesses doctorates from Oxford, Cambridge, and the University of Wales. He has written a response to the notion that Science has exposed the Bible as obscurantist in a book titled God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? The book will be published this fall.

The debate will center on Dawkins' views as expressed in his best-seller, The God Delusion and their validity over and against the Christian faith. This will be the first significant discussion on this issue in the "Bible Belt." Consequently, we believe that it will focus much public attention on this important issue.

Tickets are now available through the Alys Stephens Center box office. Call (205) 975-ARTS or 1-877-ART-TIKS.

Fixed Point is a Christian "think-tank" and teaching resource for churches and the broader community. With Christians, it is our mission to prepare them to engage the culture in a thoughtful manner; with skeptics, we endeavor to challenge their unbelief with "gentleness and respect." (I Peter 3:16)